Results 121-140 of 1,468 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Neasa Hourigan

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (20 May 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I wish to discuss build-to-rent construction. I will begin by being honest in saying I do not like it. I do not like it as a model and it did not exist when I was working in architecture. I do not like the fact there is a two-tier standard of housing that differentiates between what you might need when you are renting and what you might need when you own a building. I do not like the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Private Rented Accommodation (29 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank the Minister of State. That was very helpful. I am very happy to hear that the RTB is considering the issue of illegal evictions and reporting to the Minister of State on it. This is very useful. I realise the matter is dealt with in the programme for Government. I am delighted to hear about it. What the RTB can do is very much about process and will be after the fact. What...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Private Rented Accommodation (29 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I am mindful that I have come into the Chamber to talk about illegal evictions. While the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is most definitely tasked with the reduction in the number of evictions generally, and we will try to get through it today, this might be more of an issue for the Department of Justice. That is the Department I had in mind when I tabled this matter....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Private Rented Accommodation (29 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I think I did but it may be that somebody was not available.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I am quite glad that I get to speak on the second week of the debate on the Bill because it gives me a chance to read and listen to the contributions Deputies have put forward, which has been very interesting. There has been quite a spectrum of responses to the Bill. For some the Bill goes too far and there is a feeling that it might pit communities against the inevitable reforms that will...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Banking Sector (1 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Not to be coy about this but I see a banking forum as a first step to talking about public banking, something for which Green Party has pushed for a long time. It would speak to issues around regional access to banking. It is something to which 21 countries in Europe have access, but we do not. We do not have that level of competition or choice...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Banking Sector (1 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank Deputy Verona Murphy for raising the issue of orthodontics because it comes across my desk all the time. Access to training for orthodontists is an issue we must address as well. I will talk about a banking forum. A few weeks ago, the Dáil debated the current banking situation in Ireland. I think we would all agree that we are at a moment of great difficulty. We had the...

Prime Time Investigates Programme on Department of Health: Statements (1 Apr 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I echo what many Deputies have said by acknowledging that the Minister of State strikes me as a person who is dedicated to providing suitable services for children with disability. The enormity of what the "RTÉ Investigates" programme has brought to light was somewhat overshadowed by the issue that arose in the Beacon Hospital last week. I expect that we will still be talking about...

Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. The Green Party agrees with the principle of active land management, of utilising under-used sites and identifying private lands that could be of benefit to projects for renewal of particular areas or consolidation of public lands with off-cut lands or lands of that type. The core principle of the Land Development Agency, LDA,...

Banking Sector: Statements (3 Mar 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I join a surprising amount of my colleagues tonight in asking that we would once again consider public banking. I am very aware that we have had this discussion previously. I accept the Minister's points about the ISIF and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland but, as we have heard tonight, the Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland announcements will come as a particular blow to SMEs that...

Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Feb 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I welcome the clauses in the Bill that make provision for unaccompanied minors or those seeking international protection. I would like to draw his attention to people who have been granted a legal right to enter the State as family members of refugees or under the international humanitarian admission programme. It is not practical for these people to further delay their travel to Ireland...

Covid-19 (Drug and Alcohol Services, and Homelessness): Statements (18 Feb 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: A number of weeks ago, I engaged with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on a number of issues with regard to private emergency accommodation, which is a rapidly increasing proportion of the accommodation provided and, it seems, a very profitable one. The Minister persistently referenced the role of local authorities and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive in tackling our homelessness...

Covid-19 (Mental Health): Statements (4 Feb 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: The report of the expert group set up to review the Mental Health Act 2001 was published in 2015. It contains 165 recommendations, including provisions intended to strengthen protections for people who are detained without consent at approved centres. In June 2016, the then Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy McEntee, stated that the draft legislation would be...

Response of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to Covid-19: Statements (28 Jan 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I return to the issues raised in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on homeless services operating in Dublin. They will be of concern to the NGOs involved and to my colleagues on Dublin City Council, including Councillor Janet Horner and the Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Chu. I return to the issue of local connection, which was rightly raised by Deputy Toíbín. The letter to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Maternity Services (14 Jan 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I wish to raise an issue today with the Department of Health and its Minister. While I acknowledge they are well aware of the issue, it is so important that it is worth highlighting again. My constituency of Dublin Central is home to the Rotunda Hospital, which is the busiest maternity hospital in Europe. In 2019, more than 8,000 babies were delivered in hospital. In the same year, more...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Maternity Services (14 Jan 2021)

Neasa Hourigan: I share the Ceann Comhairle's fondness for the Rotunda. All three of my children were born there, one with only seconds to spare. It is a place which is very special to many of us. I welcome the response from the Minister of State. The Department of Health has engaged with the management of the Rotunda Hospital. We welcome that engagement. To be clear, the best practice in neonatal...

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2020)

Neasa Hourigan: I welcome the Bill. I wish to highlight some issues relating to the changing landscape of financial services and taxation that we are likely to see arise in a post-Brexit Europe. Although the Bill is sorely needed, it is something of a missed opportunity to implement more robust measures in the sector of financial services and taxation. In all the current uncertainty surrounding Brexit and...

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (15 Oct 2020)

Neasa Hourigan: Some of the items I will be focusing on as part of my work in the Committee on Budgetary Oversight are performance metrics, results and transparency. Is it clear what each Department is trying to accomplish with the taxpayers' money and is the Department achieving those goals? In the ten days before the budget, both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure gave a...

Winter Plan 2020: Statements (1 Oct 2020)

Neasa Hourigan: I will make a number of points with respect to the winter plan. First, I welcome the additional funding across a number of areas. The reality is that this must, out of necessity, be a dynamic process as it is responding to a situation that is changing almost daily. However, there are a number of challenges that come with that uncertainty and the need to respond quickly. I draw...

Revised Estimates for Public Services 2020 (23 Jul 2020)

Neasa Hourigan: As has been stated a number of times, the figures involved in these Revised Estimates are large and denote the scale of the challenge we face in the coming months and years. Coupled with this is the considerable level of uncertainty with regard to the future of our economy, education system, health system and communities as the pandemic continues to play a major part in our decision-making....